Infosys to fund $150,000 annual award

BANGALORE: Infosys Technologies and Association for Computing Machinery have signed an agreement to create a new annual award that recognises young scientists and system developers whose contemporary innovations are having a "dramatic impact" on the computing field.

The award, to be known as the ACM-Infosys Foundation Award in the Computing Sciences, would seek candidates globally and carry a prize of $150,000, an Infosys statement said.

The first recipient would be announced as part of the ACM awards programme in early 2008.

Instituted by Infosys through its philanthropic arm the Infosys Foundation, the award joins the roster of ACM awards that honour outstanding contributors to a range of computing applications, including computer architecture, theory and practice, education, humanitarian initiatives, software and major technical advances of an enduring nature.

Infosys Technologies Chief Executive Officer S Gopalakrishnan said Infosys wanted to work with ACM to recognise major research contributions in a timely manner.

"We want to honor contemporary innovation to ensure that the award goes to younger individuals whose scientific contributions in the computing sciences are significantly impacting the field", he said.

"Our goal is to identify breakthroughs that have broad implications well beyond the scope of the innovation itself, and that reflect an underlying scientific or engineering methodology that is remarkable for its rigour or for its sheer audacity", Gopalakrishnan added.